The Giant Eagle

When I lived in California, I bought my groceries at places named Raley’s, Safeway, and Albertson’s.  Good solid grocery store names.  When I was just a wee lad, my Sainted Mother bought the family groceries at Purity Market in Healdsburg, California.  There is no more Purity in Healdsburg, and I’m not just talking exclusively grocery stores.

Here in the greater Youngstown, Ohio area, we have the Sparkle Market chain (with their late 50’s caricature mascot “Sparky”), Rulli Brothers markets (a chain of two Italian Deli’s that somehow managed to grow into grocery stores), and the big one—Giant Eagle.  I believe that the Giant Eagle chain is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

I can only guess at the chain of events that led to a Supermarket chain being named “Giant Eagle”.  I cannot imagine that the name “Giant Eagle” was premeditated.  Must have been some sort of corporate merger between the Giant Grocery and Eagle Stores somewhere in the distant, misty past.  Or maybe two guys named Bill Giant and Ted Eagle got together, and figured that “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Grocery” was just too far-fetched.

So I went to the Giant Eagle in Boardman this afternoon and bought a jar of green olives from the olive bar and three pounds of cold cuts.  No, I did not go to Rulli Brothers for the cold cuts—why you ask, would I go to a chain store instead of the local Italian deli?  Because the cold cuts are better at the Giant Eagle.  Interesting place we have here for grocery runs—Giant Eagle for the cold cuts—Rulli Brothers for eggs, Sparkle because, well, mostly for the mascot.

It was simpler when Safeway had everything you wanted all in one store, but it’s more fun this way.